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Post by SpaceCadet on Jul 23, 2004 10:02:43 GMT
Hello everyone. I am looking to add a small bandsaw to my workshop and have found three possabilities. I was wondering if anyone had any advice or experiance with any of them. 1) Warco - CY90 3 1/2" Mitre Arm Bandsaw See details at: www.warco.co.uk/saws/SawCY90.htm- Blade Speeds - 65, 95, 165 rpm
- 1/4 hp motor
- Cutting capasity - 90mm diam. by 130mm long
- Mitre arm 45° swivel
- £175
2) Emco - Easy Portable Bandsaw See details at: www.emcomachinetools.co.uk/emco%20site/EasyCut%20data.htm- Variable Speed 30-90m/min
- 1kw motor
- Cutting capasity - 85mm diam. by 105mm long
- Mitre arm 45° swivel
- £293
3) Axminster - 4" Metal Cutting Bandsaw - 550001 This is a new product from Axminster and they do not have details on there website, but if you get sent there "Review" magazine then it is detailed in there Feb 2004 issue. - Blade Speed 45m/min
- 375W motor
- Cutting capasity - 100mm diam. by 150mm long
- Mitre arm 45° swivel
- £375
At the moment I am leaning towards the Axminster model, just because it looks like a better put together machine, but I was worried that it only had a 375w motor in relation to the Emco's 1kw one. Any comments will be very welcome. Regards Ian |
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IP
Involved Member
Posts: 72
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Post by IP on Jul 24, 2004 6:00:55 GMT
Ian,
I have an Axeminster saw, not the one you are contemplating but all I could say is its brilliante and I wouldn't be without it.
Speaking only as a satisfied customer Axeminster always seem supply a good product and the srvice is superb, would recommend em to anyone.
Regards, IP
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Post by houstonceng on Jul 24, 2004 12:13:59 GMT
IP
I bought a Warco Mitre Arm Universal Bandsaw (Item #6000 in their Cat) - slightly bigger version of the CY90. Not portable but I didn't want that. Would definitely recommend buying one where the arm (rather than the vice) swivels to get angled cuts. Found that offers from Axminster, Chester, etc were virtually identical except for the colour and price. Come to think of it, I remember the Chester one had a 1/4hp motor and mine's fitted with a 1/2hp motor. Seems powerful enough but would be rather unhappy with 1/4hp.
Fellow club member has a CY90 and swears by it - horses for courses !
One very useful feature of the MAUB from Warco is provision for vertical use. Ok the table's a little small - so fitted an aux table to the existing one - and the throat's small but, after all, it's really a cut-off saw.
Price of Warco was £299.00. Axminster one sounds expensive at £375 !! For that price you could buy a Warco 5" - CY125.
Maybe this helps - on confuses ?
A.N.Other Andy
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Post by alanstepney on Jul 24, 2004 17:26:58 GMT
I have one that is similar to the Warco one, and although it works, the overall quality is poor. At Sandown last Christmas I looked at all the offerings from the various suppliers, and if I was looking for a bandsaw, I would probably go for the one offered by The Engineers Toolroom. The quality of their products seems marginally above average and they certainly know what they are doing. www.engineestoolroom.co.uk is on the front of their catalogue. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 25, 2004 20:54:17 GMT
Just my idea big is beautiful and most of all handy sooner or later. Certainly take one which can be used upright. There is an awfully lot of plate work to be done around our shops. If you want some pictures of a band saw, next step bigger, at work have a look at my pages under the construction of 2-times. Most of the machines, if not all, come from the far east so expect that there is some adjustment needed to make them work properly. I fact the simple changing of a blade might need some adjusting. Once that done … priceless machines. Between the Emco and Warco I would go for the Warco. First of all for the motor and drive. I for me don’t like brush type motors on a machine tool and certainly none with an electronic regulation. You will find that you will use the machine a lot more as expected and a brush motor is quite a bit more noisy. The Warco arrangement can take a lot more abuse and the drive is plain simple mechanic. Not certain if they can be used upright, certainly check for that. Compare the price of the blades as well. There can be a huge difference. Know that these blades can be bought on a roll of 30m at most cutting tool stores. You can easily silver solder them yourself and have them for 1/3 – ¼ of the price this way. And as a last taught, but of course you knew. ALWAYS have a spare blade.  Regards Wilfried Vermeiren users.skynet.be/modelbouw.wilfried |
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Post by SpaceCadet on Jul 27, 2004 11:46:50 GMT
Wilfred, Maybe a stupid question, but how can you tell what type of motor they have ? Also, is the saw in the picture you refered to the "Mitre Arm Universal Bandsaw" www.warco.co.uk/saws/MitreArmUniversal.htmI was initially looking at a small saw because I have a VERY small workshop, but since I will be moving in a few months and will have access to a larger workshop, maybe I should look at something bigger ? Cheers Ian |
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Post by Tim Bayliss on Jul 27, 2004 18:57:28 GMT
I had the same dilemma - I recently bought a Chester H80, 3 1/2" capacity, at 99 quid I knew I couldn't go far wrong.
I find it great. The biggest stuff I've cut with it so far is 3" solid square BMS (bright mild steel) and 3" dia round BMS. It took a while, 50 mins for the square, but the cut was really nice and straight. One dislike, the motor gets REALLY hot after about 15 mins cutting but the man at Chester says that's how they run! It doesn't seem to have any bad effects.
I intended to sit it on my bench, sans the base frame, but ended up adding a couple of wheels to the base frame and, as it is small enough, can trundle it into the space at the end of the lathe when not in use.
By the way, the blade that came with it is excellent, which was a nice supprise.
Hope this helps, good luck with your choice.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 27, 2004 19:44:07 GMT
Not realy the same machine mine looks a bit like the one on the page www.warco.co.uk/saws/Universal.htm Which is quite the same machine, different make, but with a swivelling vice and a fixed head. Mine has the same motor,1/2 hp. In fact it is my second machine as on the first one the motor burned out. My fault as I always leave the machine to do his job without me nearby. 99% of the time when something goes wrong the band saw breaks or runs of the wheels leaving the motor free to run further without harm. That time the saw jammed and decided to stay whole and stayed on the wheel the result was a stalled motor with the known result. Must say it was an impressive sight all that blue smoke in the workshop but the sell … took me quite a few days to get rid of that. Proved the replacement motor was as expensive as a new machine so a decision was quickly made. Regards Wilfried Vermeiren users.skynet.be/modelbouw.wilfried |
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